Dylan Alcott and Angus O’Loughlin are ListenABLE

Paralympian and radio host Dylan Alcott and broadcaster AngusO’Loughlin have launched a new podcast series ListenABLE, with PodcastOne Australia, to highlight and change stigmas around disabilities, whilst having some fun along the way.

The hosts want to speak to people living with disabilities and those directly affected by them to ask the questions often thought as off-limits. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll learn something.

Issues discussed include discrimination, getting into nightclubs, employment and whether people with disability can have sex and if so, how?

The podcast offers much for everyone – disabled or abled – and hopes to change perceptions and challenge what people think it’s like to live with disability.

Alcott said: “It’s a dream come true to create a podcast like this about disability – especially doing it with one of my best mates. I wish there was something like this around when I was growing up to help me feel comfortable with who I was and educate the people around me. We can’t wait to shake up the common misconceptions people might have on what it’s really like to live with a disability and have some fun with it too!”

O’Loughlin added: “We decided to create this podcast when Dylan introduced me to people within his community who faced challenges many of us aren’t aware of. This is totally different to anything else out there – just two mates having a fun conversation about some real issues to break down barriers and create a fully inclusive society.”

iHeartRadio CEO on Podcast opportunities

US radio and audio entertainment powerhouse iHeartMedia hasn’t seen any negative coronavirus impact and may actually see listeners feeling a closer connection with the company’s services due to the virus, chairman and CEO Bob Pittman said this week, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

When the iHeartMedia executive was asked about the company’s push into podcasting he said: “We think about it as an extension of radio. It is another form of companionship,” Pittman explained. “The consumers run out of time for their eyes; [it is] hard to add more video,” but podcasts and other audio can be consumed while cooking, driving, working around the house and the like. He added that the company sees podcasting as another audio platform like AM radio, FM radio and digital.

Pittman argued that iHeartMedia’s “distinct advantage” amid the podcasting boom, which has led to the creation of around 1 million podcasts in the US, is that it can promote its podcasts via unsold advertising inventory on its radio stations. And he highlighted that ad rates for podcasts are more like online video than radio. Bressler added that unlike for other companies, “podcasting is profitable for us.”

Australia’s top 10: Original podcast chart

With an influx of US podcasts hitting the Podcast Ranker chart this month, and the usual popularity of radio show podcasts, compiling a list of Australia’s most popular podcasts is a little more difficult.

Andrew Rule a podcast hit for Herald Sun

Life and Crimes with Andrew Rule is a massive hit with audience, Melbourne’s Herald Sun old readers this week. The podcast, published in partnership with Acast, was recently ranked as the fourth most-popular podcast in Australia.

The Herald Sun reported the must-listen podcast “has been downloaded millions of times”.

Andrew Rule is one of Australia’s most prolific multi award-winning journalists and author and has worked at both News Corp Australia and for The Age. It was at the latter where he started the Underbelly brand, co-authoring a series of books with fellow journalist JohnSilvester which were subsequently turned into a Screentime hit series for Nine.

In the Life and Crimes podcasts, the Herald Sun columnist shines a light on the dark corners of Australian life – from the story behind the biggest mysteries, to the characters of yesterday and the crims of today.